Congress Considers Smith’s Orphan Works Bill
“After months of debate and negotiation, a bill on orphan works has been introduced in Congress. Photography groups continue to oppose the bill, but say it is not as bad as they feared.
“The Orphan Works Act of 2006 (H.R. 5439) (.pdf) is based on a recommendation from the U.S. Copyright Office, which photography groups decried as a dangerous erosion of copyright law. But the bill also makes some concessions to rights owners, including delaying the effective date of the law until 2008 and ordering the Copyright Office to put more information online to help people find copyright holders.
“The bill was introduced Tuesday by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and will be reviewed Wednesday at a meeting of the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, which Smith chairs.”
Daryl Lang. Congress To Consider Softer Version of Orphan Works Bill. PDN Online. May 23, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
The Patry Copyright Blog. Orphan Works. May 23, 2006.
Public Knowledge. Orphan Works Bill Introduced. May 23, 2006.
William Jackson. Homes for Copyright Orphans. GCN. May 1, 2006.
American Society of Media Photographer. Status of the Orphan Works proposal.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Europe to Discontinue Issuing Software Patents
“Software patent campaigners have reacted with surprise to an apparent change in the European Commission’s stance on those patents. The Commission said last week that computer programs will be excluded from patentability in the upcoming Community Patent legislation and that the European Patent Office will be bound by this law.
“This statement appears to contradict one made by the EC last year, when it said that the EPO would continue to grant software patents that make a technical contribution, despite the European Parliament’s decision to reject the software patent directive. That directive would have widened the extent to which software could be patented.”
Ingrid Marson. Europe: No Patents for Software. News.com. May 24, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Big Music Caught Stretching Truth … Again
“Copyright reform advocates frequently point to the economic importance of the so-called “copyright industries” to support their view that the government should enact tougher copyright laws. While few doubt that the industries merit attention, the economic angle has been hampered by the relative dearth of Canadian studies on the issue.
“Last year, the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Copyright Policy Branch set out to remedy that shortcoming by paying Connectus Consulting, an Ottawa-based public policy firm, more than $37,000 to study the Canadian economic impact of the copyright industries.
“The 93-page report confirms the importance of the copyright industries (defined in the report as music, movies, radio, television, publishing, theatre, software, and advertising services), yet challenges long-held assumptions about both the performance of the Canadian copyright industries in comparison to those in the United States as well as the economic health of the Canadian sound recording industry.”
Michael Geist. Sound Numbers: Data Regarding Music and Other Copyright Industries Confound Expectations. Canada.com. May 25, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
TiVo Seeks Injunction After USPTO Ruling
“Both TiVo and EchoStar are claiming victory after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a ruling concerning a series of patents owned by TiVo.
“As part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by TiVo against EchoStar, the Patent Office did a formal review of 61 TiVo patents. TiVo on Wednesday said the Patent Office reaffirmed most of the patents, although it did reject at least two patent claims. The digital video recorder (DVR) company did not say which patents were rejected.
“TiVo filed suit against EchoStar in 2004, alleging that its use of that technology infringed on a TiVo patent. In April, a jury awarded TiVo $73.9 million in damages. EchoStar has appealed the jury verdict. However, TiVo is attempting to use the ruling to get an injunction preventing EchoStar from shipping DVRs.”
Candace Lombardi. TiVo, EchoStar Both Claim Victory in Patent Ruling. News.com. May 24, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
May Wong. TiVo Widens 1Q Loss to $10.7 Million. WashingtonPost.com. May 25, 2006.
David B. Wilkerson. TiVo Loss Widens on Litigation Costs. MarketWatch. May 24, 2006.
Ars Technica. TiVo Seeks Injunction Against EchoStar. May 24, 2006.
Tom Krazit. TiVo Scores Patent Win Against EchoStar. News.com. April 13, 2006.
Ars Technica. TiVo Victorious In Major DVR Patent Suit. April 13, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
European Software Lobby Threatens Schools
“The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has threatened to prosecute educational establishments that use improperly licensed software.
“The pressure group, which lobbies on behalf of the proprietary software industry, has threatened to take headteachers, schools and local education authorities (LEAs) to court if they are found to have any unauthorised software. FAST claims this is the first campaign of its type to target primary and secondary schools. The group claims the software industry is ‘at a huge risk from the availability of illegal downloads.'”
Tom Espiner. Schools Face Software Licensing Clampdown. ZDNet UK. May 25, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
Against Software Theft. Operation Tracker. Undated.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Feds Sidestep Privacy Act By Buying Data
“Furor and confusion over allegations that major phone companies have surrendered customer calling records to the National Security Agency continue to roil Washington. But if AT&T Inc. and possibly others have turned over records to the NSA, the phone giants represent only one of many commercial sources of personal data that the government seeks to “mine” for evidence of terrorist plots and other threats.
“The Departments of Justice, State, and Homeland Security spend millions annually to buy commercial databases that track Americans’ finances, phone numbers, and biographical information, according to a report last month by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. Often, the agencies and their contractors don’t ensure the data’s accuracy, the GAO found.”
BusinessWeek Online. The Snooping Goes Beyond Phone Calls. May 29, 2006.
Related Stories:
Robert O’Harrow Jr. Agencies Not Protecting Privacy Rights, GAO Says. WashingtonPost.com. April 5, 2006.
General Accounting Office. Personal Information: Agencies and Resellers Vary In Providing Privacy Protection (GAO-06-609T). (.pdf) April 4, 2006. (Abstract: “In fiscal year 2005, the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and State and the Social Security Administration reported that they used personal information obtained from resellers for a variety of purposes, including performing criminal investigations, locating witnesses and fugitives, researching assets held by individuals of interest, and detecting prescription drug fraud. The agencies spent approximately $30 million on contractual arrangements with resellers that enabled the acquisition and use of such information. About 91 percent of the planned fiscal year 2005 spending was for law enforcement (69 percent) or counterterrorism (22 percent).”)
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Web Forefather Pushes Net Neutrality
“Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Web, has called for clear separation between Internet access and Internet content. Speaking at the World Wide Web conference in Edinburgh on Tuesday morning, Berners-Lee gave his views on the growing battle over Net neutrality.
“Net neutrality is the concept that all Internet content should be treated equally by broadband providers without any kind of discrimination. It has become a hot political topic this year, especially in the U.S., amid fears that telephone companies may start blocking some Web sites or charge users extra to access them.
“Companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo have been lobbying U.S. politicians to introduce laws that would make Net neutrality mandatory. These moves have been opposed by broadband providers and some hardware manufacturers.”
Jonathan Bennett. Berners-Lee Calls for Net Neutrality. News.com. May 23, 2006.
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